Tuesday, October 25, 2011

So I guess we have a Halloween tradition now, since we've been doing it for the past three years. Each member of the family gets their own pumpkin and gets to paint it however they like. Also, as of this year, we have doughnuts and apple cider, too.

Hey, cute! Sorry to be stalkerish, but I read your thing about the ant problem and the single cockroach and wanted to comment, since my major required me to get a license in pest control.

First, if you can see a cockroach, it's safe to assume it's because there wasn't enough room for it in the walls. One visible cockroach = an invisible infestation. You'll want a pest control specialist to come take care of that.

For ants, you can kill off the colonies in less than a week by mixing equal parts borax and sugar (or honey) with enough water to make a paste. Put it in an empty margarine tub with little holes punched around the top to prevent any babies getting into it--borax is toxic for people too. But I did that for my ant problem when we first moved into our new house and it killed off the whole colony in like 3 days. Also, you can use the leftover borax with your laundry.

If you know the cleaning agent 409, that'll kill any ant or cockroach instantly--or should. I tried to kill a spider cricket in our house with it (crickets are part of the cockroach family) and it took a full minute for the thing to die... usually it gets 'em right away.